Make Your Home Feel More Magical Today! Superstar Designer Amber Lewis Shares Insider Tips + Her Deeply Personal, Inspiring Journey to Skyrocketing Success

The Jamie Kern Lima Show

In this episode, Jamie Kern Lima sits down with renowned interior designer Amber Lewis to discuss her massive entrepreneurial success and the

Key takeaways

• Amber Lewis utilizes a specific six-stage design process: Ponder, Play, Procure, Patience and Panic, Pull it all together, and Pride.
• A core business strategy for scaling is 'reinvesting in yourself' by hiring experts to fill your own skill gaps, such as draftspeople or CEOs.

Main topics

• Interior Design Methodology
• Entrepreneurial Scaling

Notable quotes

The real skill, it's being a mind reader, a vision-driven diplomat.

Conclusion

The episode serves as both a masterclass in design/business and a movi

Transcript preview

Speaker 2 (0:00) Does the space you live in right now feel as beautiful, magical, and special as you are? Does it feel restorative, livable, curated, and in a style that reflects who you truly are? The energy of spaces we call home can impact how we feel, and there are simple tips that we can all learn, no matter the budget we're on, to make our spaces feel even more special. Amber Lewis is one of the most talented, buzzed about, and in demand interior designers right now. And she is here in person today with you and me to help us curate our own spaces, make our homes more magical, more livable, and even more us. Amber, thank you for being here. I'm so excited. Amber Lewis is a seasoned interior designer, founder of a full service design firm, Amber Interiors, touting clients across the country, and the genius behind the brick and mortar and online retail stores, Shop Amber Interiors. Right now, in this very moment, with 115 employees, your businesses are exploding all over the place. I don't even know how you make such great rugs. You have the product line, you have your interior design firm. You're just crushing it everywhere. Also, simultaneously be exploding on social media. So many of us, we think, oh. I'm not qualified or I don't have what it takes or these things happen to other people or maybe they have Speaker 1 (1:24) connections or they were handed this. We lived in literally like a trailer park. We had nothing compared to everyone around me. They had these beautiful, lavish lives and I got to see it in a very special way. It didn't happen at home, but it was in other people's homes and I started to really appreciate. design. Were you six when you picked your first paint color for your bedroom? Like super into that? Okay, you were 15, Speaker 2 (1:47) you started selling pillows. Speaker 1 (1:48) I started Speaker 2 (1:49) sewing pillows. Speaker 1 (1:50) Okay. My mom bought me a sewing machine. For anyone who's like, what is it like to Speaker 2 (1:54) work with a designer? I love to understand the process more so that I don't enter it blind. You break down in interiors and the six stages of a project. And not only is she sharing answers to all of your most pressing design questions, she's also opening up like never before. Speaker 1 (2:12) Oh, gosh. Do you do this? Do you make people cry all the time? I can't Speaker 2 (2:17) believe I'm Speaker 1 (2:18) crying. Speaker 2 (2:19) When Speaker 1 (2:19) people Speaker 2 (2:20) are often successful, usually it's not an accident. And to understand who Amber is, behind Amber. You co-ran your businesses with your husband at the time and have since separated but are still in it together a million percent. You've been diagnosed with MS. Hearing how you've navigated really tough decisions. I mean, you're a badass. You're a badass and you're really tough and you're really ambitious and you're no joke. And seeing that. side of you. I'm getting emotional now. Everyone else cries on my show, but I'm like crying right now Speaker 1 (2:55) because Speaker 2 (2:55) I'm just like, Speaker 1 (2:56) I Speaker 2 (2:56) love this. As a result of her remarkable love from her customers and demand for her talents, in recent years, she's expanded her business into successful multi-year furniture, rug, textile, and decor collaborations with companies you love like Anthropologie, Lolloi, Visual Comfort, and more. She's published two bestselling books, call it home and made for living and her brand new third book, a new home renovation and interior design book called Interiors, curated spaces from start to finish, is available everywhere books are sold. Interiors takes you through the six stages that define an Amber Interiors project. Ponder, play, procure, patience and panic, pull it all together, and pride. guiding you from the beginning of each new build or renovation project to the end of install. With helpful notes and advice on topics like playing with scale, selecting art, or how to work with an interior designer, Interiors gives you insights into Amber's inspirations and decisions, as well as her personalized source call-outs highlighting specific products, finishes, paint colors, and brands that she returns to again and again. If you had to redo your living room and your budget was $500, what would you spend it on and what wouldn't you spend it on? How big should a Speaker 1 (4:20) rug be for a room? Always, my theory and my philosophy is you have to at least get... Speaker 2 (4:27) What's one thing people are obsessed over when decorating or designing that you think actually doesn't matter at all? I actually don't want Speaker 1 (4:34) you to buy things that I want Speaker 2 (4:36) you to buy. Is there something that a lot of people buy but then Speaker 1 (4:40) you think Speaker 2 (4:40) is not worth the money? Speaker 1 (4:42) This is one thing that seems so simple, but it is not. How do we know how Speaker 2 (4:47) many pillows to have on a couch? I like at least two in each corner. At least two. Okay. Of a sofa. I am so excited for this conversation and I'm so happy that you are here. Thank you so much for being part of the Jamie Kern Lima Show podcast family. And if you haven't done this yet, can you take two seconds and hit the subscribe button on the app that you're listening or watching on? That way you're going to be the very first to get every inspirational episode. Plus you can get weekly inspiration into your inbox from me for free. Just join my newsletter at jamiekernlima.com. And thank you for sharing this episode with every single person that you know who might need some inspiration and hope today because we are all in this life together. Speaker 3 (5:31) Welcome to the Jamie Kern Lee Michelle. Speaker 2 (5:34) Oprah, how have you defied the odds? Her show is Speaker 3 (5:40) unlike any I've ever done. A revelation. When you listen, it feels like a hug. First Lady Michelle Obama. Jamie, you are going so deep. I have never had this in-depth conversation. I've actually never said that out loud to anybody in an interview before. You know Speaker 2 (5:57) how to get there. Speaker 1 (5:59) Your Speaker 3 (6:00) brain and your spirit and your heart is like, wow, Melinda French Gates. When I look into Jamie's eyes, I feel like I am on some other cosmic level with her. Megan, Duchess of Sussex. Speaker 2 (6:15) I Speaker 3 (6:15) wasn't expecting that one. I could see the light around her. She's infused with Speaker 2 (6:19) light. Maria Shriver. I never made that mistake again. Imagine overcoming self-doubt, learning to believe in yourself and trust yourself and know you are enough. Welcome to the Jamie Kern Lima Show. Speaker 3 (6:36) Jamie Kern Lima is her name. Everybody needs Jamie Kern Lima in their life. Speaker 2 (6:40) Jamie Kern Lima. Jamie, you're so inspiring. Speaker 3 (6:46) Jamie Kern Lima. Speaker 2 (6:50) She traveled here today to join you and me in person. I am so excited to say Amber Lewis, welcome to the Jamie Kern Lima Show. Thank you so much for having me. I am honored and excited to be here. Very excited to be here. I'm so excited you're here and so excited. I shared with you when we were walking over here on days I'm just super stressed out or overwhelmed. I will literally go to your Instagram. Today's the first day we're meeting in person, but I will go to your Instagram. Speaker 1 (7:15) I will just scroll it and somehow I feel better. Oh, well, that's the most... That's a huge compliment. So thank you very much. I like to keep it light and happy over there. At least try. It is. It's light and happy. It's also just so inspiring. Thank you. So I think everyone is really Speaker 2 (7:29) catching on to all your talents. So thank you for sharing it with all of us. And I'm excited for today. Congratulations on your new book out, Speaker 1 (7:37) Interiors, which we're going to dive into also. Thank you so much. It's awesome to be here. And yeah, I can't believe there's a third one up there. It's wild. Speaker 2 (7:45) Yeah. Yeah. Well, it's stunning. So whether we have a designer or are like doing it ourselves or on this continual journey of making our own space and home feel like it reflects who we truly are and how we want to feel, I'm so excited for your tips and your insights that we're going to talk about today from what's really worth the money. Speaker 1 (8:04) Yeah. Right? Because a lot of us are like, oh, Speaker 2 (8:06) I shouldn't have spent that. Not worth it. Or it's Speaker 1 (8:08) a Speaker 2 (8:08) simple things we could do to bring more. magic to our spaces, to the mistakes we need to avoid when it comes to wanting to feel even more grounded in our own home. But before we dive in, for people discovering Amber Lewis for the very first time today, your story. on everything that you have gone through from the time you were little to how you've created this business that's all around you that's sort of exploding everywhere, that's multi-channel, multi-dimensional to where you are today. Can you share a bit about who you are, your story, what people should know about you who are maybe meeting you Speaker 1 (8:45) for the first time today? I have kind of a twisty, windy path to get to where we are today. I didn't really have any inkling of what I was going to do per se, but I was always a pretty creative kid. So Speaker 2 (9:01) I'm, Speaker 1 (9:02) you know, I talk with my hands. I'm very out. I'm very like crazy. I like, like to just experience life. I'm very curious. I'm very drawn to art. I have always just been super creative. My mom and my dad are both extremely creative people. My mom's an incredible artist. My dad is a builder. And so I was always grown up in a world surrounded by creatives, but also just really like hardworking human beings come from a long line of teachers. We didn't have anything growing up. We had a very beautiful, awesome, very kind of run of the mill life, but we didn't have money. I didn't. you know, nothing. My mom was always the mom making us avocado sandwiches. She's kind of a hippie. And we went to thrift stores and it was just a very humble, awesome life. We camped a lot, didn't go on fancy vacations. And so we were like out in the world, out in the earth, always at the beach, you know, doing those things. And so I think I probably picked up my knack for being inspired by nature and the color palette and really wanting to understand art and understand things like textiles and vintage from a pretty young age. And then when I was in sixth grade, my family moved to Malibu. So we grew up at the beach, but we lived in literally like a trailer park. We had nothing compared to everyone around me. They had these beautiful, lavish lives. And I got to see it in a very special way because I wasn't, it didn't. happen at home, but it was in other people's homes. And I started to really appreciate design in a way that it wasn't necessarily something that came naturally for me or something that I noticed that I love so much. But once I was in some of these homes and my dad was building some of these homes, I got to see this other side and I became obsessed with. houses, just houses in general. And cut to high school, I really did not like school. And I know my dad was saying to me growing up, you have to do something, you have to do something, but I love to work. Speaker 2 (11:08) And Speaker 1 (11:08) so at 15, I got my first job and I was working as a jewelry designer assistant. So I was watching all these like beautiful diamonds every day going dripping from these women. And I just also thought that was really beautiful. And so I would go to some of these women's houses and I would see these beautiful houses and just, I want to live like that. Like I want, not that I wanted to live like that. I just wanted to be a part of this beautiful home world. I thought it was pretty magical. Speaker 1 (11:37) High school, barely graduated, honest to goodness. I hated school. I hated that I had to be stuck inside. I just wanted to be out in the world doing my thing. And so I just started working. And so from 15, I kind of learned that working was... was going to be part of my path. And I just started a business at 15. I started sewing pillows and selling them. You were Speaker 2 (12:00) 15 when you started selling pillows. I Speaker 1 (12:01) read, were you six Speaker 2 (12:02) when you picked your first paint color for your bedroom? Like super into that. Okay. You were 15. You started selling pillows. I started sewing Speaker 1 (12:08) pillows. Okay. My mom bought me a sewing machine for my like 15th birthday. And I just learned how to sew and started sewing. And so I would take them down to the store. down in like Cross Creek, which is in Malibu. It was very different when I was growing up. And I started selling these one of a kind pillows. And I had kind of like a weird celebrity clientele, which is so bizarre to even say it now. But I think like Cher was one of the first ones who bought my pillows. And that was it. I just loved it. And I loved that I had. business eye or like I wanted to have a business at a really young age, but I didn't really know how to define that. Speaker 2 (12:47) So Speaker 1 (12:47) cut to graduated high school and went to, I don't know, fashion school. Like, what do I do? I don't know what I'm going to do. I want to be creative. I can't, I didn't get into art school. Didn't really try that hard to be honest. I just thought, okay, I'm going to go to fashion school. Ended up at fashion school. And that obviously wasn't for me either. So I started working in a home decor store. And in this home decor store, I was doing displays, but also selling behind the counter. And I got really addicted to remaking beds and setting tables. And customers were coming in, some high-end customers were coming in and saying, hey, will she come and do that in my house? And so I got the opportunity to go into houses again, another kind of like running theme, go into houses again and see how the other half live, for lack of a better word, and help them kind of do their bathrooms or do their... Speaker 1 (13:39) tablescapes or decorate for the holidays. And I was hooked. And that was it for me. And I ended up going to UCLA Extension for a little while. And people started asking me to come into their homes and do like one room at a time. What for the UCLA extension? Speaker 2 (13:54) I Speaker 1 (13:54) went for interior design. Interior design. UCLA extension. Yeah. I ended up dropping out of that too because I was very confident that I got this. I'm going to learn how to do this on my own. I want to call this out for a minute because, you know, right now in this very moment, as we're talking, you Speaker 2 (14:07) have Speaker 1 (14:07) 115 employees, your businesses are exploding. all Speaker 2 (14:10) over the place. I don't even know how you make such great rugs, which we're going to talk about in a minute, but you have the product line, you have your interior design firm, you're just crushing it everywhere. Very few people are able to come up with creative content to also simultaneously be exploding on social media. You have all this stuff happening. And what I love so much that I think for someone listening right now, because so many of us, we think, oh, I'm not qualified or I don't have what it takes or these things happen to other people or maybe they have connections or they were handed this or they, you know, that kind of thing. And what I love so much about what you're sharing is you're like, okay. I didn't take the traditional path. Like I was in more of a trailer style environment in Malibu. I started selling my own handmade pillows, right? So you had kind of both parts to you, the creative genius, but then also this business mind. You're 15 selling pillows to Cher and other people in Malibu. And then you, you know, aren't a fan of school. And then you go to go to fashion, you know, for fashion school, but you don't like that. You drop out. Then later go to design school, drop out. But you hustled and you went and got real world experience with different places. And I think. I think that's inspiring and going to ignite a lot of hope for people. Speaker 1 (15:25) Because Speaker 2 (15:26) there's a lot of people right now going, what do I do? Do I go to school? Do I have this huge debt? Or I did go to school, but that's not what I want to do. And how can I figure it out? So then you find yourself, okay, you're in a retail store now. You're doing displays. And then what happens from there? Speaker 1 (15:42) So I just started getting asked to come to people's houses. And I would say... Kind of like we were just talking about. I would say yes to everything. Someone asked me to come hand paint their baby's nursery. Yes, I'll be there. Like actually paint it myself. So go to the paint store, paint it myself, and then hand make this little ivy enchanted garden with a bird's nest. Yes, I'll do that. And then another lady came in and said, will you come pick a paint color for me in my living room? Sure, no problem. So I'll paint it too. I was saying yes to all of the things. And eventually it kind of caught on with word of mouth. Someone would go into the living room and they'd see, okay, then I bought a sofa and I bought a vintage coffee table for this client. And